“DO NOT VENT ATMOSPHERE!”
It was so loud he staggered. He’d heard it through the metal in his armor! “Why not?”
“BECAUSE THE ATMOSPHERE ON THE OTHER SIDE WILL KILL YOU!”
He carefully set the unconscious scientist on the deck and walked to the outer door. It had a small viewport, no more than 20 centimeters across. It was covered in frost. Rick scraped away the ice and looked through. A floating Portuguese Man-o-War was on the other side. He stared at it, and a tentacle waved. “Oh.”
* * * * *
Epilogue
Sato opened his eyes and looked around. He was in zero gravity, strapped to the removable medical bed in Vestoon’s multipurpose central cabin. In this case, it had been configured as a medbay for him.
“Hello?” he called. It hurt to talk. He tried to put a hand to his throat, but his arms were strapped down, too. “Hey, I’m awake! Ouch.”
Rick floated in. “Good afternoon!” the armored man said. “Welcome back.”
“Thanks, but I don’t understand how I’m even here.”
“It was a bit of a miracle. After you decided to wreck the Science Guild base, the chunks were falling into the atmosphere. I went in after you.”
“With this little ship?”
“No, he free dived,” Dakkar said as he drifted in.
“You crazy idiot,” Sato said.
“I didn’t try to take on the whole guild by myself,” Rick said.
“He has a point,” Dakkar agreed.
“I didn’t ask you. At least you had the sense to not take the ship down after me.” Rick glanced at Dakkar, who pulsed random colors. “You didn’t?”
“Rick convinced me to.”
“How exactly did he do that?”
“He reminded me you are my friend.”
Sato looked from Rick to the Wrogul and sighed. “It’s still a miracle you got out of the atmosphere.”
“We didn’t,” Dakkar said.
“Now you’re just fucking with me,” Sato complained. “How did you?”
“The Izlians used a pair of tugs to boost the fragment back into orbit,” Dakkar explained.
Sato’s eyes bulged and he looked at Rick, who nodded and explained.
“The black circle down in the atmosphere? It’s not a storm, it’s an Izlian city. This gas giant has some rare elements. They apparently were ‘tolerating’ the Science Guild presence in exchange for credits.”
“Explains why there’s a big gate here still, too,” Sato said.
“Exactly,” Dakkar said. “After they put us back in orbit, they asked us to leave as soon as possible. They were going to destroy the fragment and pretend nothing happened.”
“Why did they bother saving us?” Sato asked.
“They didn’t, actually,” Rick said. “The fragment was going to come too close to their city. When they intercepted to divert it, they realized there were still people on board, and boosted it into orbit. We were just very lucky.”
Sato nodded. “Can someone unstrap me?”
“You aren’t going to go all kill-ninja on me?” Rick asked.
“No,” Sato assured him.
Rick moved over and unstrapped him. “Dakkar told me the story about you. I’m sorry about your wife.”
“Doesn’t excuse what I became,” Sato said as he used his hands to examine his wounds. “You must have used nanites?”
“I did,” Rick said, then gestured at Dakkar. “He did the rest.”
“Least I could do,” Dakkar said, waving his two specialized tentacles.
“What you became doesn’t matter,” Rick said. “You have some powerful information that can take the guild leadership down.”
“It’s more complicated than that.” Sato sighed. “The Science Guild is run by AIs.”
“Fascinating,” Dakkar said.
“I thought AIs were illegal and stuff,” Rick said.
“I suspect this is why,” Sato said. “I don’t have all the pieces, but I think these AIs go back to the First Republic. They were all destroyed in the Great Galactic War, or something like that.” He narrowed his eyes. Some of the things Minerva said… “They turned me into a sword to enforce their will on the people of the galaxy. Their motivations are…uncertain. To protect us from ourselves, or something? I just know they’re scared of Humans. Really scared.”
“Of us?” Rick laughed. “Why?”
“I wish I knew.”
“What now?” Rick asked.
“No clue,” Sato admitted. “I guess I’ll try to understand all of this, then share it with the Four Horsemen. If anyone would know what to do with the knowledge, it would be them.”
“The Izlians said all the technology and computers in the base were destroyed,” Rick said. “Doesn’t that mean you already won?”
“No,” Sato said. “I thought this was the home of the Science Guild, even thought that way when I worked for them. Now I know better. This was nothing more than a listening post, or a field office. No, the real home is out there somewhere. Maybe I can find it.”
“Sounds dangerous,” Rick said. “I’m in.” Sato gave him a curious look. “Don’t have anything else to do.”
“I want to monitor your recovery,” Dakkar said. “If you can give me a ride to Azure?”
“Definitely,” Sato agreed, and floated free from the bed. Overall, he felt pretty good. “Where are we?”
“Hyperspace,” Rick said. “The whole fight happened three days ago.”
Sato nodded. Okay, one step at a time. If they wanted me to be a sword, I’ll be a sword. A double-edged sword. He smiled at Dakkar. “Let’s get you home, my friend.” Dakkar flashed pleasing colors.
* * *
“This is not necessary,” Dakkar said as they moved down the starport alleyway.
“Nonsense,” Sato said and patted the tracked support tank he’d built for his Wrogul friend while en route. “You might as well return home with pinplants. It’s the least I can do.”
“It is surprising to find a facility with a Wrogul surgeon,”
